Covering installation and attaching clip therefor



All@ 27 1946 w. H. CHURCHILL 2,406,665

covERING INSTALLATION AND 'ATTAGHING 01.114 THREFOR Filed oct. .28. 1944 v Patented Aug. 27, 1946 CLIP THEREFOR Y Wilmer H. Churchill, Saugus,f Mass., assigner to' United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 28, 1944, Serial No. 560,879-

Thefpresent invention. relates to fabric-secured installations andto attachingr clips therefor and aims generally'to improve the construction ofthe installationi as well` as thev provision ofv a simple novel andi em'cient` clip for use inY such installations.

There` are manytypes of` installations where it isdcsiredatosecure, one or more plies of a fabric, either Woven or sheetxfabric, to a metal or like rigid support; One such installation, selected hereinv for illustrative purposesis the. application of ar covering, such as fabric, to aircraft, motor vehicles-and the like wherein a fabric ply or plies are secured to.. an: underlying metal support, by means of Vmetal fastener members. Heretofore suchffasteners have been of the; type illustrated and; described in myv prior Patent No. 2,345,325, grantedv March 28., 1944,'and consisted of a plurality of fasteners adaptedto penetrate the fabric and lock with the support and at spaced points of application along the; support.

One of the primary aims and objects of the present invention is the provision of an improvedV fabric secured' installation in which'the fabric is secured to the support by means of a series of fasteners connected together to provide a continuous fasteningy through a desired length of installation. i

A further object of the` invention is the` pro` visionof any improvedjfastener clip for fabricsecured' installations andl thelike wherein a portion of ,one clip'is adapted to lock withv a fastener portion of an adjacent clip so as to provide a continuous fastening.

Thel above and other. advantages of the invention will be. apparent from the accompanying drawing and annexed specification illustrating and describing one preferred embodiment of the invention.

" In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a por. tion f a fabric-secured installation of the inventionthe section being taken along a side edge of a series of fasteners as indicated by the arrows 22. of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan` View thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view thereof as taken on the line 3-,3 of Fig. 1 ;Y A

Fig. 4A is a sidev view Ofan improvedV attaching clipaccording to a preferred form of the invention;Y f

.'Fig. 5 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmental side view interlocking one clip with an adjacent clip and 7 claims. (Cl. afi-81.)

Fig. 7 is an. enlarged side` view of: adjoining end: portions of apair of'interlocked clips.

Referring. to the drawing, onetypical installation embodying the. invention comprises` a supporting part I, whichr may be a structural part. of an aircraft, motor vehicle or the like, and which is, preferablyk provided* with a longitudinali row of equally spaced apertures 2.

The: fabric 4 which is to be` secured in place. upon the support may comprise one. or more. plies ofv flexibleV material, which may be woven fabric or suitable sheetl material such kas leather, felt, sheeting or the like, and this fabric 4A overlies the apertured support: I. The fabric material 4 is conveniently securedv to the support by a connested-series. 'of fastenerA elements or clips 3 each having an elongated material-engagingportion 5; a support-engaging fastener portion 6 passed through thefabric and lockingly engaging the under faceof thel support, and a locking portion I for engagement with the support-engaging fastener portion of an adjacent clip whereby a series of clips may be connected in, series to provide a continuous fasteningor stitchingv of desired length as illustrated in Fig. 2.

- TheV invention provides a novel form offastener or attaching clip for use in an installation as abovedescribedA and aims particularly to provide one that is simple in construction, cheap in the cost of manufacture as well as one which may be heat-treated for stiffness to provide a secure fastening.

Referring particularly to Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, the invention provides a fastener clip having an elongated material-engaging portion 5 formed of thin fiat strip material, such as ribbon steel, the portion 5 being adapted to overlie the outer face of the fabric. The support-engaging fastener portion 6 on one end of the portion 5 isr advantageously, though` not necessarily formed ofthe same type andsizeof material as the portion 5. Preferably it is' a loop-type fastener having an y'open upper end, as at 8. and conveniently may be V-shaped to provide an open throat 8 at an entering nose 9. The side walls In of the support-engaging fastener member I5v are advantageously formed ofthe same material asthe portion 5. and. preferably diverge from the nose end 9 to the plane ofthe portion 5, the side walls I0 being connected'tothe material-engaging por@ tion 5`andthe terminal end II of the clip by inwardly'directed neck'portion I2, presenting shoulders I3 on the fastener portion 6 for locking engagement .with the aperture Walls of the support I.V Thus the fastener portion 6 may be 3 forced through the fabric 4 and into the apertures 2 of the support, so that the shoulders I3 will engage the support with a snap fastener action.

The locking element 1 on the opposite end of the material-engaging portion 5 advantageously is of less length than the depth of the fastener loop portion 6 and preferably extends angularly from the portion 5 on the same side thereof as the support-engaging fastener portion 6, and may be in the form of a tongue connected to the portion 5 by a bight or rounded head I4, so as to Q Verlie the terminal end II of an adjacent clip whereby the material-engaging portions 5 of -a series of clips will be disposed in a common plane, all holding the fabric against the support.

The locking element 1 is disposed at some angu-V lar position, to the portion 5, different from Veither of the sides I of the support-engaging fastener portion 6, and preferably this angular relation is at least 90 degrees and advantageously greater so as to include an obtuse angle between them. The inner portion of the rounded head I4 provides. allocking seat l for locking engagement with the aperture wall of the support I, so that the terminal end of a series of clips will be securely locked to the support. Y

InV aflixing the attaching clips to the fabric 4 and support I,the locking tongue .1 of an initially applied clip is forced through the fabric and an aperture 2 of the support, where the seat I5 locks against the aperture wall of the support. The support-engaging fastener portion 6 of the initially applied clip is then forced through the fabric and through the next aperture 2, so that the shoulders I3 seat under the support -I.

The next adjacent fastener is similarly applied by inserting the locking tongue end 'I down through the open throat 8 of the previously affixed support-engaging fastener member G, as illustrated in Fig. 6. As the second clip is moved to locked position, the tongue engages the opposite divergent sidesl of the fastener portion Ii expanding vthem and maintaining them in locked engagement With the support as illustrated in Fig. '7. The bight or rounded head I4 provides a seat for the terminal end Il of the previously applied clip (Fig. 7) so thatthe material-engaging portions 5 lie in a common plane to tightly hold the fabric against the support. 'Y

Thus the series of interconnected fasteners provides a continuous line Yfastening for the iiexible fabric strip which is of material advantage in installations of the type above described.V

Although I have illustrated and described only a single form of my invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not restricted thereby, as the scope of the invention is best defined by the following claims, Y l

I claim: l

1. A sheet metal clip adapted for securing a covering to an underlying support formed with a row of apertures, said clip comprising a thin strip of metal formed at one end with a shouldered* tapered loop fastener portion adapted for snapfastening engagement with an aperture Wall of a support, the opposite endl of said strip being Y formed with a locking tongue of less length than the depth of the loop portion and adapted to be inserted into the loop fastener portion of an adjacent previously positioned clip for engaging and expanding the sides of a previously positioned loop fastener portion against removal from Ia support.

2. A'sheet metal clip for securing fabric to an underlyingsupport formed with a row of .aper-A vided with a row of apertures therein, said clip comprising an elongated body of thin strip metal formed at one end With a V-shaped fastener portion adapted for insertion in an apertured support, the opposite end of said body being formed Y with an angularly disposed resilient locking eleinner face of said support-engagingfastener porcomprising an elongated body offthin stripr metal ment for engaging and expanding the opposed sides `of a terminal V-shaped fastener part of an adjoining clip. Y

4. A sheet metal clip for securing fabricand the like to an underlying apertured support pro vided with a row of apertures therein, Said clip comprising an elongated body of thin strip metal formed at one end with a V-shaped fastener por- Y tion adapted to be forced through a fabric and positioned in an aperture of a support, the opposite end of said body being formed with an angularly disposedilocking element, the upper end of said V-shapedfastener portion being reduced and open to axially receive and place under tension the locking element of anladjacent clip whereby a plurality of clips maybe connected in series to form a continuous fastening of desired length,

5. A sheet metal clip forl securing fabric and the like to an underlying apertured support provided With a row of apertures therein, said clip comprising an elongated body of thin strip metal formed at one end with a loop fastener portion adapted to be forced through a fabric and positioned in anY aperture of a support, the opposite end of said body being formed with an angular-ly disposed locking element of less length than the depth of the loop portion, the upper end of said loop-fastener portion being restricted andropen to receive axially a locking element of an adjacent clip to prevent contraction of said loop fastener portion, v C

6. Arfastener clip for securing material to an apertured support-.comprising an elongated mate. rial-engaging portion formed ofrelatively stiff strip material, an open-topped support-engaging fastener portion extending angularly from one end of said material-engaging portion and adapted for snap fastener engagement with a support aperture, and a locking element Von the opposite end of said material-engaging portion and disposed on the same side thereof as said supportengaging fastener portion for interlocking snap fastener engagement through the open top of the support-engaging fastener portion of `an adjacent clip whereby a plurality of clipsmay be connected togetherto form a continuous fastening of de-V sired length, said locking elementbearing'on an tion under tension to prevent contractionV thereof and removal from anV apertured support in which it may be inserted. Y Y

7. A series of fastener clips of'flile construction i adapted to be connected in end-'to-'end relation by a snap fastener action Vto form a continuous length of metallic stitching for securing a cover-` ing to a support having a rowof spaced fastenerreceiving apertures, each of saidfastener Jclips 5 u formed adjacent one end with an angularly disposed V-shaped loop fastener portion having an open restricted throat at one end, the opposite end of said body having a locking tongue disposed at an obtuse angle to the body and connected thereto by an arcuate head portion, said locking element being insertable axially through the open restricted end of a V-shaped loopV fasv 6 tener portion of an adjacent clip with the arcuate head portion overlying one side of the restricted open throat and the locking tongue engaging under tension an opposite tapered wall of said loop fastener portion to prevent contraction of said loop fastener portion and removal thereof When positioned in an apertured support.

Y WILMER H. CHURCHILL. 

